The low ranking for UVA Football in the ACC preseason media balloting shouldn’t be that big of a surprise, nor should it be that concerning to Cavalier fans.
Let’s take a deeper dive into this.
To begin, the media folks who bothered to show up in Charlotte last week, which I was told was rather slim, were top-heavy with the “pay to write” type media.
Throw in the fact that, historically, the ACC Kickoff is a majority of North Carolina-based outlets, and then it’s not a stretch to link the heavy Carolina presence to a lower ranking for UVA.
So, on those points, no real reason to panic in the Cavalier camp.
ICYMI
However, despite the Top 25 transfer portal class, the low expectations aren’t just an ACC media opinion.
Nationally, the Cavaliers aren’t moving the needle either.
ESPN‘s preseason ACC rankings have Virginia even lower, at 15th, despite labelling the Cavaliers’ schedule as the easiest in the conference.
CBS Sports ranks Virginia 16th, again mentioning the program’s strong offseason transfer portal success, but questioning the ability to mesh the new players.
The real Sports Illustrated has Virginia at 14th, echoing the theme that even with an infusion of talent, combined with a schedule that is void of Clemson, Miami and SMU, it isn’t enough.
So, what gives?
The national media agree that Virginia had a solid offseason in the transfer portal, bringing in some quality players and adding much-needed depth.
The overall consensus, however, is that Year 4 under head coach Tony Elliott won’t differ much from his first three seasons.
Digging deeper, it seems the national media and even fellow ACC coaches aren’t sold on the staff Elliott has surrounded himself with and their ability to keep this from being their last in Charlottesville.
In a recent article from Athlon Sports, where ACC coaches talked anonymously about other programs in the conference, Elliot and the UVA program were mentioned unfavorably.
Here are some snippets: “these guys are in trouble, and most everyone expects there to be a staff change at the end of the season, or earlier,” ouch.
It gets worse: “They’ve never delivered on the offensive expectations Tony (Elliott) set coming from Clemson. They’ve never delivered on both sides of the ball, and we’ve seen some talented players come in, underperform, and move on.”
And then this: “This is a team you just never worry about playing. They lack discipline, and they have no real identity. The parity in this league is increasing, and it’s going to be hard for them to make a sharp turn up.”
Man, if this is what your “brotherhood” of coaches thinks about your program, what are your critics saying?
While there’s plenty of external doubt about the direction of the program, Tony Elliott seemed to be doubling down.
Regarding his staff, Elliott said last week: “We’re one of only six Power Four programs to return our entire staff. This offseason, we added 54 new players, 32 of whom were acquired through the transfer portal, and 22 of whom were high school signees. I’d also like to add that our staff has gone about building to this point, and we’ve done it the right way.”
Could it be that Elliott identified the problem, in that his staff needed a shakeup, but didn’t get it?
OK, I believe that if “it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.”
But clearly, there were some obvious weaknesses with UVA Football last season, the previous three seasons, to be honest.
Let’s examine just one, the offense, or lack of offense.
Criticism surrounding Virginia’s offensive production started in Elliott’s first year on grounds, when he decided to implode the highly successful offensive productivity built by previous coach Bronco Mendenhall.
Elliott took one of the nation’s most prolific quarterbacks, Brennan Armstrong, from being a dual-threat signal-caller to the transfer portal.
Des Kitchings has been Virginia’s offensive coordinator since Elliott arrived in Charlottesville, and criticism has been plenty.
Criticism from the media and the fans about the overall underperformance of the entire Cavalier offense during his tenure.
Virginia’s offensive production decline in the second half of last season only increased the criticism.
Despite Elliott’s background as a touted offensive coordinator at Clemson, he hasn’t displayed that ability at Virginia, with many pointing at Kitchings for the blame.
Many had thought that Elliott would take over play-calling; however, that hasn’t happened.
The fourth-year Virginia coach obviously has belief in not only Kitchings but his entire staff as well.
My take on this, for what it’s worth, is this. It’s time to wipe the slate clean on Elliott and his entire assistant coaching staff.
Why?
Money, and the apparent one-year infusion of lots of money into the program to give Tony Elliott one season to prove his value and save his job.
Justin Speros, the new assistant GM for UVA Football, made it quite clear that when the “transformational” gift to the Virginia football program was received last December, “everything changed.”
“We flipped our entire recruiting board; suddenly, everyone was now in play,” said Speros.
And so, with that gift, the UVA Football program was able to land a highly regarded transfer portal class.
Elliott no longer has to look for some spare change in between the sofa cushions.
The check was not only in the mail; it was received and cashed.
Now he just needs to show us it was money well-spent.
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